They said Stage Two was going to be underground.

Mark's Season of Pain is almost over. Here's the last frustrating aborted attempt before he actually manages to ask Abby to marry him. Now, will she say yes? Will she say no? Will the Cloverfield monster show up and kill them both?You never know with me.

I also wanted to call back to Blurstreak, who I introduced in the first few pages of this issue. I was toying with the idea of giving him an arc where he starts to change from the super speed dater to someone in a relationship, but I wasn't sure I wanted to take him there. So instead, he gets to do impulsive jokes, if you know what I mean.

For those of you paying attention, you'll see that the stock photo earth is now gone, replaced by a cartoon. If you're really paying attention, you'll notice that I drew it for part of a Fort Worth Weekly illo a few months back. Nothing's wasted here at Thom Zahler Art Studios.

I also refer to a charity race between Blurstreak and the Crusader. I always liked the old Silver Age stories where Superman would race the Flash. (Here's a bit of comic book wisdom: Who was faster, Superman or the Flash? Since most races ended in a tie, it was assumed that the Flash had to pace himself, and as such, could win in a sprint. Over a long haul, Superman would win since he didn't get tired.) The races gave me the idea for the page capping joke at the end.